An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus irradiates an ultrasonic signal toward a target region of the interior of a body of an object from the surface of the body of the object, and non-invasively acquires an image regarding a soft tissue tomogram or a blood stream using information of a reflected ultrasonic signal (e.g., an ultrasonic echo signal).
The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is small and inexpensive, executes display in real time and has high safety without radiation exposure, as compared to other image diagnosis apparatuses, such as an X-ray diagnosis apparatus, an X-ray computerized tomography (CT) scanner, a magnetic resonance image (MRI), and a nuclear medicine diagnosis apparatus, and is thus widely used for heart diagnosis, celiac diagnosis, urinary diagnosis, and obstetrical diagnosis.
The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe for transmitting an ultrasonic signal to an object and receiving an ultrasonic echo signal reflected by the object to acquire an ultrasonic image of the object.
The ultrasonic probe includes a piezoelectric layer in which a piezoelectric material vibrates to execute a conversion between an electrical signal and an acoustic signal. A matching layer reduces an acoustic impedance difference between the piezoelectric layer and the object so as to maximally transmit ultrasonic waves generated in the piezoelectric layer to the object. A lens concentrates ultrasonic waves proceeding in the forward direction of the piezoelectric layer on a predetermined point. A backing layer prevents ultrasonic waves from proceeding in the backward direction of the piezoelectric layer to prevent image distortion.